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ive always loved his attitude. believe it or not it had quite the impact on me, especially in my teen years. that "you may not like me, but you WILL respect me" thing just gives me the warm fuzzy happys every time.

INDIANAPOLIS — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's top labor negotiator used this week's annual scouting combine to update owners on the collective bargaining negotiations.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, league spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed Saturday that Goodell and Jeff Pash met Friday with the owners' labor committee at the Colts' team complex. Colts owner Jim Irsay, Aiello said, did not participate because he was out of town.

"There was a meeting yesterday at the Colts' offices of the ownership's labor committee for another update from the negotiating team," Aiello wrote.
The NFL Players Association and league owners are trying to work out a new collective bargaining agreement before the old expires at the end of Thursday.
The two sides spent seven straight days negotiating in front of federal mediator George Cohen in Washington before talks ended Thursday. They are scheduled to resume Tuesday.

Both sides have abided by Cohen's request to stay quiet about the negotiations, but it's becoming increasingly clear that everyone involved is bracing for the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987.

"Everyone is building their team the same way. You'll have the draft, you'll have free agency, none of those things are going away," Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said yesterday. "It all is going to be there at some point, and you're going to build your team the way you build your team."

Agents also expect a salary cap to be part of the eventual deal.
The latest meeting in Indy was another odd twist on one of the NFL's biggest and busiest offseason events. Suddenly, all that talk about big-time picks like Cam Newton and Nick Fairley has been overshadowed by the continual meetings about the looming lockout.

On Thursday night, league officials met with head coaches and general managers. Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio described the meeting as "informational."
On Friday, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith took his turn. He spent two hours updating agents on the negotiations, then the union put four prominent agents — Tom Condon, Ben Dogra, Drew Rosenhaus and Joel Segal — side-by-side in a show of unity for Smith and the players.

Three blocks away, at Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of next year's Super Bowl, prospective rookies were working out at the same time agents began tweeting that potential rookies would not be allowed to talk with team officials if the CBA expires. Union and league spokesmen quickly said that was untrue.

Yesterday, word leaked about Goodell's meeting on the city's west side. Aiello did not provide details of the most recent discussions which included the labor committee co-chairman — Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers — Dallas' Jerry Jones and New England's Robert Kraft.
The most recent CBA was signed in 2006, but owners exercised a clause in 2008 that let them opt out.
League owners want a greater percentage of the roughly $9 billion in annual revenue that is shared with the players. Among the other significant topics in negotiations are a rookie wage scale; the owners' push to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18 while reducing the preseason by two games; and benefits for retired players.
But the threat of a lockout has sped up the pace of negotiations.

After months of infrequent and sometimes contentious talks, the sides went more than two months without any formal bargaining until Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl. The sides met again once the next week, then called off a second meeting that had been scheduled for the following day.
Cohen said Thursday that the two sides had made "some progress" but "very strong differences remain."

"We want a deal and our hope is it will get done as quickly as possible," Smith said Friday. And so does the city of Indianapolis, which is set to host its first Super Bowl next season.

"I hear that they expect to get it done," Mayor Greg Ballard said during a visit to the stadium. "I'm glad that they're talking, that they're talking seriously. We feel that they'll get it done."

Upshot?

INDIANAPOLIS — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's top labor negotiator used this week's annual scouting combine to update owners on the collective bargaining negotiations...

...Both sides have abided by Cohen's request to stay quiet about the negotiations, but it's becoming increasingly clear that everyone involved is bracing for the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987...

...After months of infrequent and sometimes contentious talks, the sides went more than two months without any formal bargaining until Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl. The sides met again once the next week, then called off a second meeting that had been scheduled for the following day.
Cohen said Thursday that the two sides had made "some progress" but "very strong differences remain."

.. "We want a deal and our hope is it will get done as quickly as possible," Smith said Friday. And so does the city of Indianapolis, which is set to host its first Super Bowl next season...

"I hear that they expect to get it done," Mayor Greg Ballard said during a visit to the stadium. "I'm glad that they're talking, that they're talking seriously. We feel that they'll get it done."

It's about 30 hours before D-Day or Crunch Time or whatever you want to call it. The CBA expires at 11:59pm on 3/3/2011. The owners and players have been talking today and will continue to talk. The owners are actually just leaving the mediating room now but the talks will continue.

There may still be a lockout but after the owners met today there has been no action as of it.

WASHINGTON -- The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed Thursday to a 24-hour extension of the negotiating window for a new collective bargaining agreement, sources told NFL Network's Kara Henderson.

Momentum to approve the idea of "stopping the clock" built throughout Thursday as the sides met for over eight hours in front of federal mediator George Cohen.
The original expiration date for the current CBA had been 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday. Now the union's deadline to possibly decertify is 4 p.m. ET Friday, according to NFL Network's Albert Breer.

The 24-hour extension could very well lead to a longer extension, according to a league source.

U.S. District Judge David Doty was in his chambers in Minnesota, prepared to review whatever was put his way. However, Todd Winter, one of Doty's law clerks, said the office wouldn't comment on anything regarding CBA negotiations at this time.
Doty would have to sign-off on any extension before it becomes valid.

The terms of the extended deadline were open to negotiation, according to a league source. The amount of time, how it corresponds to the league year (can teams still sign existing free agents or cut players?) and the enforceability of the league's drug policy were eligible to be worked out between the sides.

The NFLPA isn't willing to take decerification -- as definied by the rights in the current CBA -- off the table, according to sources, just as the NFL is certain not to rule out the possibility of a lockout.

A time extension or "stopping the clock" occured during the 2006 labor negotiations, and a deal ultimately was reached. The NFLPA was prepared to decertify Thursday if no deal or extension was reached.

If the union eventually decertifies, sources told Breer that quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees would serve as the lead plaintiffs in any potential antitrust lawsuit filed against the league.
The union has been asking league owners to open their books and reveal more economic data about expenses and revenue. After meeting with Cohen on Wednesday night, a source said, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his negotiating team were in a position where they would be inclined to reveal more financial data at Thursday's session.

The labor talks even have drawn the attention of the nation's first fan -- President Barack Obama.

"You have owners worth close to a billion, players making millions. The parties should be able to work it out," Obama said in a statement Thursday. "I'm a big football fan. For an industry making $9 billion, I'd hope they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way. ... I hope they can come to an agreement without me having to intervene."
Goodell and the NFL's negotiating team arrived at the mediator's headquarters about 45 minutes ahead of NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and his group.
Staring at the first pro football work stoppage since 1987, Goodell said Thursday morning, "We're working hard."

Also on hand for the NFL were lead negotiator Jeff Pash, outside counsel Bob Batterman, New York Giants owner John Mara, Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy, Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen and several other league executives. Mara and Murphy are members of the league's labor committee, which has the authority to call for a lockout if a new agreement isn't reached.
"We'll stay at it as long as it takes," Pash said before the 10th mediation session at Cohen's office.

The owners didn't spend much time Wednesday discussing where the negotiations stood, cutting their planned two-day meeting to a three-hour affair at a suburban hotel. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, also members of the labor committee, headed home rather than stick around for further talks with the union.

There was a flurry of activity Wednesday: a four-hour mediation session attended by all 10 members of the owners' labor committee, NFLPA president Kevin Mawae and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees; the three-hour owners meeting at a hotel 25 miles away in Chantilly, Va.; a one-hour meeting of the league's labor committee immediately after the owners broke up; the cancellation of another planned gathering of owners Thursday; and a private visit with Cohen starting at 8 p.m. by Goodell, two top league lawyers, Mara and Murphy.

The biggest sticking point in negotiations has been how to divide the league's revenues, including what cut team owners should receive up front to help cover certain costs, such as stadium construction. Under the old deal, owners received about $1 billion off the top. They entered these negotiations seeking to add another $1 billion to that.

Among the other significant topics: a rookie wage scale; the owners' push to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18 while reducing the preseason by two games; and benefits for retired players.

life moves on, I wouldn't get too down yet in the ad above my post the Steelers are selling 2011 merchandise, Football will happen eventually, Mr. Rooney the II asked for us to remain paitent as an owner he doesn't deserve that but as a fan of the team I'll give it untill September, It would suck if there was no training camp as I was taking my kids to Latrobe this year but I have no controll over that so "WHAT EVER."